Door construction



Feb. 19, 1957 v. E.' NOEL ErAL DooR CONSTRUCTION Filed March 17. 1953I'AVAVAYJAV. Av v v v v v 'A' pm FM 0. f am @w EO VN N m.W P. E 0 G 7 NR7 ,o5 N mm VP V.. B

United States DOOR CONSTRUCTION Vernon E. Noel and Romer G. Weyant,Elkhart, Ind.,

assignors to B & N Aluminum Welding Corp., Elkhart, Ind., a corporationof Indiana Application March 17, 1953, Serial No. 342,87 4

1 Claim. (Cl. 1S9-46) The present invention relates to improvements inthe construction of doors, and particularly those suitable for use inhouse trailers, cabin cruisers or the like. It also relates to themethod of forming such doors.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improveddoor construction which is characterized by its strength and lightweight and which will not readily be warped or distorted out of shape.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improveddoor of the foregoing character which is constructed and arranged tohave a lip projecting fromv at least three of its edges with a weathersealing strip mounted on said lip and in which the lip is formed bybonding together lapped edges of sheet metal panels, thereby providingan attractive nish on the door and a permanently tight Weather seal, thedoor being further characterized in that it has a relatively straighthinged edge and a camber on its opposite edge for use in maintainingvthe door tightly closed, thereby avoiding rattles and the like.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improveddoor construction of the foregoing character which has thin sheet metalpanels forming its opposite sides and a pad is disposed between suchpanels which will resist indentation or deformation of such panels, saidpad being characterized by its low cost and insulating properties.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide a methodof constructing a door which can' be rapidly and economically producedand which embodies the foregoing desirable features.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following descriptionand appended claim, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsforming a part of this specication wherein like reference charactersdesignate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a door embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the door as seen from the left side ofFig. l;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation as seen from the right sideof Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section taken on the lines 4--4 of Fig. 1showing the lip and pad construction used in the door.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not limited in its application to thedetails of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of otherembodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various Ways. Also,it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employedherein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

Referring to the drawings, a preferred construction of the door can beseen. It has sheet metal panels 12 and 14 forming its front and rearsides which are lapped f'. 2,781,875 EC g Patented Feb. 1.9, 1957together as shown in Fig. 4 to form a lip 16 which is adapted to engagethe door frame (not shown). The lip 16 is formed on three edges of thedoor 10 and normally will not be used on the edge 18 to which hinges areadapted to be attached. However, the present invention is not limited toa door construction having such a lip extending from only three edgessince it is contemplated using embodiments of this invention Where alledges will have a lip, such as might be desired on marine vessels, orwhere less than three edges may require lips.

The panels 12 and 14 are constructed and arranged to be in spacedrelation except where joined at their edges. Disposed between the panels12 and 14 is a corrugated cardboard pad 20 which is bonded to the innersurfaces of panels l2 and 14 by any suitable bonding agent, one of whichhas proved Very satisfactory being Chrysler Cycle-Weld, if desired,other suitable corrugated material may be used.

The use of this corrugated pad is one of the importan veatures of thepresent invention, Heretofore, it has been conventional practice to usea fiber-glass pad or a similar material which is placed loosely betweenthe door panels. Such pads have proved to be of little value inpreventing the relatively thin sheet metal panels from buckling in whenpressed upon and thereafter snapping back to their original position.They also do not prevent rattling to the extent desired for housetrailers or the like.

The corrugated cardboard pad 2l) as is used in the present. invention isfound to provide a great deal of support for the panels 12 and 14 tomaintain them in a fixed position and the door construction is found tobe substantially free from rattles or noises resulting from vibrationsof the panels. Furthermore, the corrugated cardboard is very low in costand is found to provide a door with superior heat insulating propertiesthan is the case when the prior art types of pads are employed.

Another feature of the present invention is the manner in which thepanels 12 and 14 are joined together. it has been the general practiceheretofore to join these panels by spot welding them together. This wasfound to detract from the appearance because the weld marks showedthrough the paint. In the present invention the lapped edges are joinedby a bonding operation, and an agent which has proved to be verysatisfactory is the aforementioned Chrysler Cycle-Weld. This manner ofjoining the lapped edges also proves to be very satisfactory formounting a rubber-like weather seal strip 22 on the portion of the lip16 which is adapted to engage the door frame (not shown) when the door10 is closed.

The operation of bonding the corrugated pad 20 to the panels 12 and 14and of bonding the lip 16 and Weather seal strip 22 together may becarried out in a press using a diaphragm of the type shown in Weyantapplication, Serial No. 44,121, tiled August 13, 1948, new Patent No.2,634,773, issued April 14, 1953. By using such a press construction thedoor 10 Ycan be formed with a camber in its unhinged edge 24, such ascan be seen in Figs. 2 and 3. lt will be observed that the hinged edge1S is substantially straight while the unhinged edge 24 is bowed. Thecamber is a very desirable feature of the door construction because theresilient properties of the sheet metal panels will cause the lip 16 andweather seal strip 22 to be biased against the door frame (not shown)when the lock 26 is engaged in said door frame. Not only will thiseffect a weather tight seal, but it will prevent rattlingof the door inits frame.

The steps of forming the present door construction are rather simple andcan be carried out with surprising speed. The opposite panels 12 and 14are sheared to size in- J cluding blanking operations for lock 26 andwindow 28, and the edges and corners are formed. v. A. corrugated pad,preferably cardboard, is then trimmed to t the panels and it is routedout to accommodate the window 28l and a wood block (not shown) forcarrying the lock 26. Thereafter, the corrugated pad is run through aroller type gluing machine and is then assembled between the panels 12and 14.

This assembly is then put into a steam press where the parts are pressedtogether for three to live minutes depending upon the bonding agentemployed and the sheet metal used in forming the door. Normally aluminumor steel will be used and the former is found to require less time tocomplete the bonding operation. Following the bonding operation, thewindow 28, hinges (not shown) and lock 26 are installed.

From the foregoing it can be seen that the method of assembling the dooris quite simple and can be performed in a relatively short time so as tobe very economical. Furthermore, because of the use of the corrugatedpad extra strength is added to the door permitting thinner sheet metalto be used, thereby reducing the cost of materials necessary tomanufacture the door,

Having thus described our invention, we claim:

A rectangular fabricated door comprising front and rear sheet metalpanels having their central portions in spaced relation, a corrugatedpad conforming to the shape of such central portions so as to occupy thespace therebetween and bonded to the inner sides of said panels, threeof the corresponding edges of said panels being shaped and fastenedtogether to form a continuous marginal recess for litting into a doorframe, the joint between said three corresponding edges being forrned bythe front panel having a peripheral edge folded back in a reversedirection along its inner side, said rear panel having its correspondingedge turned toward the front panel and extending into engagement withthe latter, the terminal portion of said corresponding edge being turnedlaterally so as to lit under the folded back portion of the front panel,and a resilient weather sealing member having a generally U-shapedcross-section fitting over the folded back portion of the front panel sothat one leg of the sealing member is clamped between said terminalportion and said folded back portion, the other leg fitting over andbeing bonded its entire length to the exposed side of said folded backportion to provide a flexible weather stripping for engagement with adoor frame, the remaining pair of corresponding edges being joined toform a box-like section for fitting against the hingecarrying side ofthe door frame, the hinged edge of said door being relatively straightand the opposite edge being cambered to present a concave face towardits rear panel.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,623,808 OBrien Apr. 5, 1927 2,406,629 Petkwitz Aug. 27, 1946 2,481,046Scurlock Sept. 6, 1949 2,507,305 Jacobs May 9, 1950 2,599,440 DudleyJune 3, 1952 2,710,080 Negy June 7, 1955 FOREIGN PATENTS 546,397 GreatBritain July 10, 1942

